Father Robert Barron, who spoke at the Catholic Media Conference in Denver this week. (CNS photo/Word on Fire)

By Veronica Ambuul Catholic News Service

DENVER (CNS) — The “dumbing down of the Catholic faith” that impacted catechesis in the mid-1960s “was a pastoral disaster of the first order,” Father Robert Barron told a crowd of about 500 people at the Catholic Media Conference in Denver June 19.

Other recent stories:Commentary: Dreams of a father for his soon-to-be-born son Archbishop celebrates Rural-Urban Mass on farm (Photo Gallery)Archbishop Schnurr statement: Scouting ‘is compatible’ with Church teaching

“That’s why many people in my generation left the faith,” Father Barron — creator of the “Catholicism” television series — told conference attendees and members of the public who came especially to hear his evening keynote address. “Don’t dumb down the message.”

That was the second of six suggestions Father Barron gave for spreading the new evangelization. His other suggestions included “leading with beauty” and “preaching with ardor.”

Father Barron, who currently is rector of Mundelein Seminary in the Chicago Archdiocese, started out by noting that the convention marked the 20th anniversary of World Youth Day in Denver in 1993, where it is widely though that Blessed John Paul II kicked off the new evangelization, which urges Catholics to renew their faith and aims to re-ignite the Catholic faith in traditionally Christian countries where the people’s practice of the faith has grown lax.

In leading with beauty, the Catholic Church will draw people to itself the way the main character in Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited” was drawn to the church — from beauty to goodness to truth, Father Barron said.

Another way the church can spread the new evangelization is to “tell the great story of salvation history” that includes the Old Testament story that set the stage for Christ’s incarnation.

“Don’t turn Jesus into a bland cypher,” he said. “He’s not just another mystic or guru.”

Noting the large number of people in modern society who suffer from addictions, Father Barron said the church must also help people reject “false gods of wealth, honor, pleasure and power,” and teach the anthropology of St. Augustine, who wrote that “our heart is restless until it rests in thee.”

“We need to mock (false gods) publicly,” Father Barron said.

And to combat modern atheism, the church must spread the message of St. Irenaeus, who wrote that “the glory of God is a human being fully alive,” Father Barron said. The saint, who died in the early third century, taught that the creed contains the essential truths of Christian faith.

In Christianity, God and man do not compete with each other, he added. It is only in pagan and atheistic belief systems that gods stand in the way of human progress.

Logged

... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

“Don’t turn Jesus into a bland cypher,” he said. “He’s not just another mystic or guru.”

OTOH, give him AT LEAST as much respect as you would a mystic or guru.

For example, what it a guru challenged a student to "not judge?"

Would it be best for the student, to answer, "but it's my duty to judge ... blah blah blah."

But this is exactly what I get from "devout" Catholics, ones who champion Father Barron even!

I say, "Jesus says not to judge. Can you at least pretend what it might be like to actually take Jesus at His word? Even if you can't do it, at least consider it?"

And I get, "well St. Paul said we have to throw people out of the Church that's judging plus we have to stick up for Christianity in the world when people .... and just go on and on about why they must judge."

Maybe I should frame it like this. Let's say a poster named "charlie" is telling me that we, as Catholics, are duty bound to judge, and blatantly refuse to even speculate on what Jesus is telling us to do. Except "I don't condemn them to hell." That's all they'll say, or "judge the sin and not the sinner" which makes no sense. I'll ask them, then, to tell me if they would sign off on this answer if Jesus were posting right here and asking this poster directly:

Jesus: Charlie, do not judge or you will be judged. Trust me on this.

Charlie: Lord, as a Good Catholic, I MUST judge or I will be judged. Trust me on this.

Quote

Noting the large number of people in modern society who suffer from addictions, Father Barron said the church must also help people reject “false gods of wealth, honor, pleasure and power,” and teach the anthropology of St. Augustine, who wrote that “our heart is restless until it rests in thee.”

I definitely agree about the false gods of wealth, honor, pleasure, and power. I had all those gods, to a satisfying degree, before I was plunged into psychosis and consequently my Dark Night. Twelve years later I emerge, renewed, and now I can see how cunning and delicious these false gods are. They speak of excesses that completely serve all three of our false self centers: power/control, affection/esteem, and security/comfort." When we have wealth, honor, pleasure, and power, we have the structures in place that will fulfill the needs of the false self energy centers and not really challenge them. If suddenly those false gods are taken away, the false self is immediately in crisis and overshadows everything with fear and anxiety because it has grown accustomed to taking the three energy centers for granted. If we have the spirit of poverty, which is equivalent to being in the kingdom according to the first Beatitude, then we will understand how to have faith even when there is no worldly sign of power, esteem, or security/comfort. I learned a bit about the spirit of poverty, but I thank the Lord I only had to taste it a bit and not consume it 24/7. If He calls me to a higher situation of poverty than I've known before, I trust He will carry me and my loved ones through it.

Alan

« Last Edit: June 26, 2013, 08:54:14 AM by Alan »

Logged

... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

You should live your life and stop feeling only the burden . notice i said the burden, lift it up to Him don't you believe He is waiting to relief you and help you. look for the little miracles. laugh when all you want to do is cry. it is nothing, let it go. then you will cry for the joy of the miracle you have blessed to be apart of. He wants us we need him.

And if he has given me sadness, chronic pain and grief over a child's condition, am I to rejoice in God's goodness and a renewed Faith of spirit?

I don't think any of us are ever happy that we have sadness, pain, or grief. What we rejoice in is the knowledge that when we are in Christ, we have hope of eternal life with Him. I have OCD and sometimes I get terrible intrusive thoughts, often at the worst times--like when I'm at Mass. It honestly feels like torture. But more than once the thought has occurred to me that if I make it to Heaven, I'll be happy just to sit peacefully at Jesus's feet--with no bad thoughts ever again. I tell Jesus I don't even have to see His face--just sitting at His feet will bring me unspeakable joy. Would I feel that way if I never had terrible intrusive thoughts? I'm not so sure. I have a book called "Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence" by Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and St. Claude De La Colombiere that really caused me to look at hardship in a new way. There are two ways in which God exercises His Will. Sometimes He makes things happen, other times He simply allows things to happen and then brings good out of them. Everything that happens to us is for our own good, namely for our salvation. God sees the whole picture, and He knows things we can't know. For instance, God may allow someone to remain poor, for He knows that if this person were to be financially comfortable, He would lose His soul. Perhaps he would be content with material things and never seek God, but in his poverty, he relies on God's help from day to day. You may not know why God has allowed these hardships in your life--not until you meet Him face to face. But try to have faith that God does know what He is doing, and He can bring good out of your situation, in this life and more importantly, in the next.